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Next year’s iPhone Pro models have ‘near-borderless’ design: report

Apple reportedly has a big redesign coming to next year’s iPhone Pro models, and a new ETNews report outlines what to expect from the “near-borderless” design and display.

iPhone Pro 20th anniversary models to retain unique design, but lack certain display upgrades previously rumored

20th anniversary iPhone to be totally bezel-free, have great battery life – report | Slab of glass against a sunrise

iPhone 18 Pro just arrived last week, and iPhone Duo will follow next month. But with Apple’s long lead times on iPhone development, it’s never too early for rumors about next year’s models.

We’ve long heard that Apple is preparing a unique design for its 20th anniversary iPhone Pro models next year. And today a new ETNews report offers the latest on what to expect.

Kim Yeong-ho writes that Apple “is still expected to move forward with a four-sided bending display” that’s “designed to create a near-borderless, full-screen appearance by curving the display around all four edges of the smartphone.”

So the defining characteristic of the 20th anniversary models seems very much on track, contrary to skepticism from Wall Street firm Jefferies last month.

ETNews does say, however, that two display technologies previously being considered for the new iPhone Pro models will not be implemented after all.

Apple is expected to postpone the adoption of two advanced display technologies—Color Filter on Encapsulation, or COE, and Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide Plus, or LTPO+—that had been under consideration for its 20th-anniversary iPhone next year.

These technologies could have enabled, respectively, a thinner panel and greater power efficiency.

Industry sources reportedly attribute Apple’s decision to two main factors: higher memory pricing, which make it harder for Apple to absorb additional display costs, and the company seeking solutions that are better than current COE and LTPO+ options.

It doesn’t sound like either upgrade would have been especially substantial. What users will no doubt care more about is that the new “near-borderless” design is intact.

How interested are you in the 20th anniversary iPhone Pro models? Let us know in the comments.

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Avatar for Ryan Christoffel Ryan Christoffel

Ryan got his start in journalism as an Editor at MacStories, where he worked for four years covering Apple news, writing app reviews, and more. For two years he co-hosted the Adapt podcast on Relay FM, which focused entirely on the iPad. As a result, it should come as no surprise that his favorite Apple device is the iPad Pro.